A comparison of disease burden and the government budget for mental health in Korea

The lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in South Korea was 25.4% in 2016. The Act on Mental Health enabled the expansion of psychiatric facilities; however, resources were allocated without considering the population structure or the characteristics of mental health problems.
This paper investigates the status and trends of disease burden and the government budget for Korean mental health.
The burden of mental and behavioral disorders (MBDs) was measured using the incidence-based disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and the mental health budget data was from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea.
We estimated that the disease burden of MBDs accounted for 6.4% of the total disease burden, ranking as the seventh leading cause of Korean DALYs. The mental health budget in South Korea was USD 253.4 million in 2019 (USD 90.3 million from the general account, USD 65.8 million from the National Health Promotion Fund, and USD 97.3 million from the special account for the national mental hospitals).
Challenges are created by the MBD burden on the Korean healthcare system, and the budget is insufficient to address this disease burden, suggesting that resource allocation systems should be improved.

2016年，韩国精神障碍终身患病率为25.4%。《精神健康法》推动了精神科医疗机构的扩容，但资源分配未兼顾人口结构与精神卫生问题的特征。
本研究旨在探究韩国精神卫生领域的疾病负担现状、变化趋势及政府财政投入情况。
本研究以基于发病的伤残调整生命年（Disability-Adjusted Life Years, DALYs）衡量精神与行为障碍（Mental and Behavioral Disorders, MBDs）的疾病负担，精神卫生财政数据来源于韩国卫生与福利部。
经估算，精神与行为障碍的疾病负担占韩国总疾病负担的6.4%，位列韩国伤残调整生命年七大主要诱因中的第七位。2019年韩国精神卫生财政预算总计2.534亿美元，其中一般账户拨款9030万美元、国民健康促进基金（National Health Promotion Fund）拨款6580万美元、国家精神专科医院专项账户拨款9730万美元。
精神与行为障碍带来的疾病负担给韩国医疗体系带来诸多挑战，且现有财政预算不足以应对该类疾病负担，这提示需优化资源分配体系。